Mumbai: the making of Global City

Mumbai is built on what was once an archipelago of seven islands, viz. Bombay, Parel, Mazagaon, Mahim, Colaba, Worli and Old Women’s island (also known as Little Colaba).

Today Mumbai consists of two distinct regions: Mumbai City district and Mumbai Suburban district, which form two separate revenue districts of Maharashtra

The name Mumbaiis derived from Mumbā or Mahā-Ambā—the name of the patron goddess (Kuladevi) Mumbadevi of the native Agri, Koli and Somvanshi Kshatriya communities

Mumbai means “mother” in the Marathi language, which is the mother tongue of the Kolis and the official language of Maharashtra

The name Bombay is sometimes said to be derived from the Potugese word bom bain which means ‘good little bay’

The Government of India officially changed the English name Bombay to Mumbaiin November 1995

TRANFER OF HANDS

The islands changed hands from Mauryans, Satvanas, and other Deccan rulers to Mughals.

Then it passed to Portuguese under the Treaty of Bassein, 1534, signed between Portuguese and Sultan Bahadur Shah of Gujarat Sultanate who was apprehensive of the power of the Mughal Emperor, Humayun.

It passed from the Portuguese to the English in 1661 as part of the dowry of Catherine of Braganza, who was married to King Charles II.

During the mid-18th century, Bombay was reshaped by the Hornby Vellard Project, which undertook reclamation of the area between the seven islands from the sea.

Hornby Vellard Project

It was a project to build a causeway uniting all seven islands of Bombay into a single island with a deep natural harbour.

The project was started by the governor William Hornby in 1782 and all islands were linked by 1838.

The word vellardappears to be a local corruption of the Portuguese word vallado meaning fence or embankment

According to some accounts, Hornby ordered the work to be started after the East India Company turned down his proposal; and continued as Governor till the end of his term in 1784, ignoring the suspension notice sent to him.

Present status

It was named an alpha world city by GaWC (Globalisation and World City Network)

It has the highest number of billionaires and millionaires among all cities in India.

It is the financial, commercial and entertainment capital of India.

It is also one of the world’s top ten centers of commerce in terms of global financial flow, generating 6.16% of India’s GDP and accounting for 25% of industrial output, 70% of maritime trade in India (Mumbai Port Trust and JNPT) and 70% of capital transactions to India’s economy.

The city houses important financial institutions such as RBI, BSE, NSE and SEBI.

It is also home to some of India’s premier scientific and nuclear institutes like BARC, NPCL, IREL, TIFR, AERB, AECI and DAE.

Mumbai’s business opportunities, as well as its potential to offer a higher standard of living, attract migrants from all over India, making the city a melting pot of many communities and cultures.

Global city

Also called world city or sometimes alpha city or world center

It igenerally considered to be an important node in the global economic system.

Characteristics

Although what constitutes a world city is still subject to debate, standard characteristics of world cities are:

A variety of international financial services, notably in finance, insurance, real estate, banking, accountancy and marketing.

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